Is Manju Warrier, an actor known to speak up for social causes, going to enter active politics? After a news report suggested that Manju Warrier had a round of talks with the Congress party, the actor has denied the same. News18 Kerala reported that Congress leaders had talks with the actor and though the leadership wanted her to contest, Manju Warrier was only willing to campaign for the party.
The actor however denied this and told TNM that no one had approached her and she was not going to be working for any party. She said that she had no affiliations to any political party and was busy with her shoots.
The News18 Kerala report said that Manju Warrier was close to former late Speaker G Karthikeyan and maintained good relationships with his family and son MLA Sabarinathan. Sabarinathan however said that though the family had good ties with the actor, he has had no talks with her about political entry.
Though the actor denied the news, KPCC President Mulappally Ramachandran maintained the suspense as he was asked about it. Instead of confirming or denying the news, he said that the party may have had discussions with many people over election campaign.
The actor was in the middle of a controversy last month for withdrawing support for the Women’s Wall, an event organised by the Kerala government to counter right wing opposition to the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala. The actor pulled out of the event, stating that she did not want to associate with movements that had political undertones.
The Women’s Wall which was organised on January 1 was a massive all-women demonstration, from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram.
After pulling out from the event, Manju Warrier, taking to Facebook wrote, “I had lent my support to the women’s wall thinking that it was an initiative taken by the State government for the women. But I did not realise that there were political undertones in it. This happened because of my ignorance. I was not aware that the women’s wall initiative was being associated with many political issues. I believe that nobody should stand divided based on anything. I wish that we stand for each other regardless of caste, creed and religion, just like how we forgot about everything and came together during the floods.”
Kerala has several actors who are active politicians. While Suresh Gopi is a BJP Member of Parliament, Mukesh is a CPI (M) MLA, Ganesh is Congress (B) MLA and Innocent is CPI(M) MP.